This invention relates to the field of devices for dispensing sheets from sheet rolls for example toilet paper or paper towel rolls and in particular to a manually operable roll brake for retro-fit onto existing spindle-mounted continuous roll of sheets.
It is a recognized problem that, if unregulated, the dispensing of sheets from a roll of sheets such as those typically found in a roll of toilet paper where individual sheets are separated along perforated joints, may dispense far too many sheets than are necessary for the intended use. For example this may occur where a child or domestic pet is playing with an unregulated roll of toilet paper or paper towel, or may occur in a public washroom where a malcontent merely wishes to make a mess by pulling long handfuls of toilet paper from an unregulated dispenser.
Quite apart from solving the above problem, it is self evident that reducing the volume of toilet paper used is beneficial from at least a cost savings point of view and from the point of view of reducing the mass of paper entering our waste disposal systems.
Where unregulated, a single pull on one end of for example a roll of toilet paper may result in the dispensing of many feet of paper from the roll before the friction of the central tube of the roll rubbing against the spindle or roller (hereinafter collectively referred to as a spindle) of the dispenser slows the rotation of the roll to a stop. Such an excess unrolling may also inadvertently occur in an unregulated dispenser where a user merely tries to separate a handful of perforated sheets from the sheets remaining on the roll by tugging on the freely hanging sheets without controlling the rotation of the roll for example with the other hand.
One solution has been proposed in the prior art by Jenkins in his U.S. Pat. No. 2,749,056 which issued Jun. 5, 1956 for his Toilet Paper Dispenser. What Jenkins discloses is a toilet paper dispenser which includes a pressure pad to brake the paper roll against inadvertent or unwanted unwinding of an excess quantity of paper and to hold the roll while a portion is being torn therefrom. This is accomplished in the teaching of Jenkins by mounting the dispenser to a wall and providing both a brake or pressure pad on a pivotally mounted arm which is resiliently urged against the paper roll, and a separate cantilevered finger support bracket mounted to the back plate of the dispenser. In operation, Jenkins teaches that the brake arm is scissored towards the finger support bracket by pinching the two together thereby pivoting the arm and releasing the friction of the pressure pad resting on the paper roll. Jenkins states that the finger support bracket is used to steady the hand and to act as a fixed element which can be contacted simultaneously with the brake by the thumb and a finger of one hand of the operator to improve the purchase of the hand, further noting that this enables children to operate the device while still providing sufficiently strong braking action.
Thus as may be seen, the Jenkins device is neither well suited to prevent children unwinding the paper roll nor for retro-fit to existing spindle mounted rolled sheet dispensers because of the requirement that the brake pad arm be pivotally mounted to the back plate of the dispenser and that the cantilevered Finger support also be mounted to the back plate of the dispenser. In the present invention, these limitations are overcome by the providing of a brake arm which is mounted within the confines of a generally U-shaped member which may be clipped or otherwise releasably mounted onto the opposite ends of the spindle astride a roll of rolled sheets mounted onto the spindle. Thus in the present invention the retro-fit is a simple matter of affixing the distal ends of the U-shaped support member to the ends of the spindle so as to urge the brake arm mounted to the cross member of the U-shaped member against the exterior surface of the roll.
The apparatus or device according to the present invention for controlling dispensing of flexible sheets from a continuous roll of sheets releasably mounted on a spindle includes a generally U-shaped member having a spaced apart parallel pair of legs, a cross member interconnecting the pair of legs, and a brake arm cantilevered from the cross member so as to extend between the legs. The U-shaped member is sized to fit over and bracket the ends of the roll of sheets so as to nest the roll boxed-in between the pair of legs and the cross member. A pair of releasable mounting means are mounted on the distal ends of the pair of legs, distal from the cross member, for releasably mounting the pair of legs onto opposite ends of the spindle so as to bracket the roll of sheets mounted on the spindle. The mounting means are adapted to suspend the U-shaped member from the spindle as the sole support for the U-shaped member. The U-shaped member is not adapted to be wall-mounted, but rather is adapted for retro-fit onto existing spindle mounted roll dispensers.
The brake arm is mounted cantilevered at a first end thereof from the cross member so as to extend cantilevered between the pair of legs, and so as to be rotatable relative to the cross member. The brake arm is rotatable between an equilibrium position and a roll engaging position and between the roll engaging position and a roll releasing position. In the roll engaging position the brake arm is resiliently biased by biasing means towards a plane containing the pair of legs and against the roll of sheets when mounted on the spindle. In the roll releasing position the brake arm has been rotated about an axis of rotation substantially perpendicular to the pair of legs so as to rotate a distal end of the brake away from contact with the roll of sheets against a return biasing force of the biasing means, whereby the distal end of the brake arm is released from frictional engagement with a cylindrical, outermost surface of the roll of sheets.
In a preferred embodiment the brake arm is mounted substantially medially along the cross member and the mounting means may be a pair of clips adapted to clip over the spindle on either side of the roll of sheets on the spindle. For example, the pair of clips may be a substantially parallel pair of toroidal collars. Each collar of the pair of collars may be resilient, each collar having a central aperture therethrough for retaining an end of the spindle journalled therein, and a gap providing for clipping of the each collar over an end of the spindle without having to remove the spindle from a corresponding wall mounting bracket.
In one embodiment the brake arm and at least the cross member of the U-shaped member are resilient, and may be formed from one continuous integral piece. Although not intending to be limiting, the brake arm may be generally ∇-shaped and the ∇ shape may be contained generally within the U-shaped member when the brake arm is in the equilibrium position lying substantially in the plane of the U-shaped member and the U-shaped member is removed from the spindle. The narrow end of the ∇-shaped brake arm may be mounted to the cross member, in which case the wider end engages the roll of sheets. The xe2x80x9c∇xe2x80x9d shape may remain substantially planar as the brake arm is rotated from the equilibrium position into the roll engaging position and from the roll engaging position into the roll releasing position. The wider end of the brake arm, at the distal end of the brake arm, may have a finger receiving curvature or other pull means formed therein or mounted thereon for hooking or pulling of the brake arm by a user.
The cross member may have two sections, each section extending oppositely disposed to the other between the narrower end of the brake arm and the pair of legs, each section resiliently twisting along its length during the rotation of the brake arm between the equilibrium position and the roll releasing position so as to provide the biasing means.
Friction enhancing means may be provided, for example mounted at the distal end of the brake arm for increasing friction between the brake arm and the surface of the roll of sheets when the brake arm is in the roll engaging position. The friction enhancing means may, without intending to be limiting, be tacky or otherwise slip-inhibiting pads or inserts or may be serrated teeth or raised flanges or other gripping means.
In a further embodiment, again without intending to be limiting, the brake arm may be rotatably mounted by a swivel mounted on the cross member, in which case the biasing means may be a spring mounted in the swivel so as to be rigidly mounted at one end of the spring to the brake arm and at an opposite end of the spring to the cross member. The brake arm may be T-shaped and a cross piece of the T-shape may, at the distal end of the brake arm, engage the roll of sheets. The pads may be mounted on lands on the distal end of the brake arm.